


Rest in Pieces

by GuileandGall



Series: Diary of a Nobody [1]
Category: Far Cry (Video Games), Far Cry 5
Genre: Brother-Sister Relationships, Family Dynamics, Family Issues, Funeral, Gen, Grief, Mother-Daughter Relationship, Other
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2020-05-24
Updated: 2020-05-24
Packaged: 2021-03-02 21:13:35
Rating: General Audiences
Warnings: No Archive Warnings Apply
Chapters: 1
Words: 1,905
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/24353422
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/GuileandGall/pseuds/GuileandGall
Summary: Funerals are never easy, but they can be defining.
Series: Diary of a Nobody [1]
Series URL: https://archiveofourown.org/series/1757959
Comments: 4
Kudos: 8





	Rest in Pieces

**Author's Note:**

> Wrote this to get an idea of who Leah was prior to her decision to become a deputy. I wondered what could have derailed her from her chosen course in law. And I realized she’s a country girl at heart who held onto a big little dream until she was the only one left at home to take care of her folks and the land she grew up on.

A biting winter wind howled down the mountains into the Holland Valley. Leah stood on the back porch and watched the flurries dance in the air obscuring her view of the vast landscape that surrounded the Rook family farm. This land had been in her father’s family for four generations, and from the sound of the wind the whole valley was mourning the loss of Paul Rook almost as powerfully as his daughter.

Pulling the neck of her coat more closed, she stared out into the field of white only broken here and there by the dark outstretched limbs of evergreens. One good thing about the cold, she couldn’t cry. It was like the tears froze before they could even get to the surface. That didn’t take away the pain at all. No, the sucking maw deep in her chest gaped like a black hole that threatened to swallow her up wholly and utterly.

A wailing from the house pulled Leah’s attention back to the present. Her mother was taking it bad.

“Mama?” she called, walking back inside and sealing the door behind her.

Another pained sob echoed through the house, pulling Leah up the stairs to her parents’ room. She’d almost never been in that space, though over the last few days she’d crossed that threshold several times a day.

“Mama?” she said more softly, trying to make even her voice comforting as she crouched on the floor next to her mother and draped her arms around the woman, who seemed to have collapsed under the weight of her own grief.

Ruthie Rook had always been the strongest person Leah knew. This crumpled form draped in black wool bore so little resemblance to the woman she remembered when she was growing up. Though the rough hand that grabbed hers, that was familiar. The whole family worked the land, and her mother had been no exception. In fact, she probably worked harder than everyone else considering she had to cook for everyone, clean, and keep up with four kids beyond the work on the farm.

She held her mother tightly, rocking her until the sobbing calmed a bit. Hearing the door slam downstairs, made her mother startle.

“Who?” she managed to ask before her voice gave out.

“It’s just the boys.”

Her mother relaxed against Leah.

“Ma, Sissy!” The full baritone voice that carried up the stairs belonged to her oldest brother Josiah. Leah hated when he called her that, but he always did, even more so whenever she asked him not to do it. She’d figured out to stop asking by middle school.

“Up here,” Leah replied. Judging by the resounding sound of boots on the stairs, he wasn’t alone. She shifted and tried to get her mother to her feet, but it proved futile.

“What happened?” Josiah shouted when he rushed into the room.

“She’s grieving,” the youngest Rook child replied like the answer should be obvious, even to her brawny brother.

Uriah leaned against the door jamb, trying to stay out of the line of fire like always. While Noah walked over and offered his sister a hand up. Josiah was broad and muscular like their father had been in his youth; he easily hauled their mother to her feet as she clung to him.

“I got you, Ma,” he told her, ignoring Leah completely.

Noah leaned closer to her as Josiah escorted Mother to the hall. “You doing all right?” he whispered.

“Could be better,” she admitted.

The youngest brother, Uriah remained silent and took up the rear as they all moved down the hall. The car Josiah hired for the family waited in the drive, the heat from the tailpipe billowed into the cold air like smoke from a fire. Leah stopped at the door and grabbed her mother’s coat, draping it over her shoulders. Both she and Josiah helped her into the warm garment; he swatted his sister’s hands away and buttoned it up himself.

Leah just let out a long breath and waited for her brothers to leave. She locked the door, making her pace slow enough to earn Josiah’s annoyance yet again. “Sissy, get a move on. We can’t chance being late.”

Her green eyes rolled as the tumbler of the lock slid closed. Even today, he couldn’t let up for just one damn minute, she thought. She climbed into the vehicle and sat between Noah and Uriah; the former draped his arm over her shoulder and gave her a squeeze. It was just like when they were kids. Uriah hung back and tried to go unnoticed; Noah played the calming influence and comforted the younger ones when Josiah was on a tear. It was almost a blessing when their oldest brother got a football scholarship to Ole Miss. After that, they only had to deal with his brand of prideful teasing and irritation during the summer, on holidays, and for special occasions. It was almost bearable.

Honestly, Leah didn’t know if she could take it today. She sank against Noah, trying not to let her own grief overwhelm her. She missed her father more than she could ever explain. She’d always been Daddy’s Little Girl; he’d taught her to hunt and shoot, encouraged her big dreams of going to law school, and was certain she’d be the District Attorney of Hope County, which had been her meager little dream.

The drive would not take long. Thirty minutes or so with the weather, if her guess were correct. She laid her head on Noah’s shoulder, remembering the last few weeks; most of which were spent in the University Hospital in Missoula. The man in that faded in that hospital bed had borne so little resemblance to the one that held her on his shoulders on parade days when she was a child.

Watching the landscape pass by through the windows, Leah realized that she hadn’t been home in too long, she had missed all the signs. The man who laid in that bed with barely the strength to get to his feet felt like a stranger at a glance. Only when she studied his face could she find traces of her dad. He’d gotten so gaunt, looked almost skeletal at the end, and she’d overlooked it—been so focused on her own goals, that she hadn’t been there for him when he’d needed her.

Her eyes screwed shut to stem the flow of tears. She had to be strong for her mother; she had to be strong like her brothers. _You can do this_ , she assured herself.

Once they reached the church, Pastor Jerome rushed out to the vehicle and pulled the door open.

“Ruth,” he greeted, holding a hand out to the widow.

Leah ignored the conversation that sparked around her, instead steeling herself for the next hour or so. She just had to make it back home. _That_ _’s all._ Noah let her walk on her own once they all exited the car. Uriah pulled the wrist of his coat back to check his watch. His sister didn’t know how to read the action, though she never really knew how to decipher Uriah’s behaviors and whims, even as children. Despite being the third child of four, he somehow managed to keep to himself. Though maybe being the youngest brother made him more likely to pull away.

She didn’t realize that she was analyzing her brothers as a coping mechanism, at least not until they reached the front of the church. At the first sight of her father’s profile, all the strength Leah saved up flooded out of her like an ice cube on the pavement in summer. Her knees gave out and she hit the floor with an echoing thud. She gasped fruitlessly but couldn’t seem to catch her breath.

The whole world seemed to collapse in on her all at once. She stared at the runner, her nails digging at the carpet fibers for purchase as she became aware of the weight of Noah’s hand on her back. His voice sounded in her ears, but she couldn’t make out what he was saying. And no sound left her.

_He was gone, really gone. The man who_ _’d always believed in her was gone. The one person that looked at her like she could do anything. He’d always been there. Loved her when it seemed like no one else could. Held her when she cried. Gave the biggest and tightest hugs. Encouraged her. Believed in her. And now …_

“Why?” she finally sobbed in a whisper, when Noah raised her face in his hands.

“Shh.” That was all he said, when he pulled her into a hug, tears glistening in his own eyes. There was comfort in her brother’s embrace—he gave hugs like her daddy, tight and warm and unrestrained. The kind of hug that made you know for certain someone cared. He rocked her gently, well, rocked _them_ would be more accurate. Even Uriah, laid a hand on her shoulder.

Puddled on the floor, Leah blinked past the edge of her brother’s shoulder. She hadn’t cried yet. She’d managed to escape it, until that moment. Seeing her father laid out at the front of the church cemented the whirlwind of the last few weeks.

Before anyone else arrived, Noah got Leah off the floor and into the family pew. Apparently, the ceremony was beautiful, if the condolence cards received afterward were to be believed. And Josiah gave a fitting and respectful eulogy, but that should surprise no one. Leah couldn’t attest to any of it. She stared at the casket the entire time, holding Noah’s hand, as the occasional sniffle shook her entire body. Besides that, it was like time stopped for her, and it did not restart until they reached the house again.

Thankfully, there was no graveside event. The ground was frozen. His casket wouldn’t be interred until the spring thaw.

“What the hell was that?” Josiah growled at her once he had handed mother off to Uriah.

Leah didn’t answer, couldn’t. She watched their mother rise up the stairs and into the house. The door didn’t quite close behind her. Josiah grabbed Leah’s arms and shook her until her head tipped enough to catch the angry look on his face. Still all she could do was blink, but the tears were too hot now, the cold wind couldn’t stop them even as they burned her already red cheeks.

“Back off,” Uriah called from the door. “Let her be.”

“He’s right. We all lost him. And she’s the one that’s been here the whole time. The one who had to put this all together,” Noah argued.

Josiah’s glare softened a shade, and he brought his hand to his sister’s face. She wasn’t sure if she really saw it or if it was an illusion. He’s eyes went glassy for a moment before he blinked it away. Then he pulled her toward him and planted a kiss on her forehead. It only served to shatter her all over again, but this time he caught her up in a big hug, one that held a surprising amount of tenderness.

“Come on, Sissy,” he whispered in her hair. “It will be all right. You’re going to be all right.”

 _Reassurance from Josiah Rook._ In all her wild imaginings, that was not something Leah ever thought she would live to see, let alone experience for herself.


End file.
